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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 21, 2005 Tyler Boyce, 17, the only boy on the Phoenix squad, holds up Samantha Lorton, 14. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven kicking it up today is more demanding than ever — and potentially more dangerous By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Cheerleaders waving pom-poms and yelling from the sidelines just don’t cut it with crowds anymore. "No one would watch us without the stunts," says Lindy Schenk, a 17-year-old senior on the cheerleading squad at Eagle Point High School. Cheerleaders in the Rogue Valley now depend on high-flying acrobatic lifts and tosses, complex tumbling runs and energetic dance moves to fire up crowds and impress judges at cheer competitions. These kicked-up routines have made the sport more physically demanding and potentially more dangerous. To help counter the possible risks, the Oregon School Activities Association this fall will make a safety course mandatory for all coaches who want their teams to compete at the state level. Advertisement "Cheerleading is potentially the most dangerous sport for girls," says Mike Wallmark, an OSAA assistant executive director. "There is a potential for catastrophic injury." Half of the serious sports injuries suffered by high school girls since 1982 occurred in cheerleading, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. The center reports in its most recent online statistics that from fall 1982 through spring 2004, high school cheerleaders suffered 35 severe injuries nationwide, 12 of which resulted in permanent disability. One girl died. Five other cheerleaders died of causes not directly linked to the sport, such as heart problems. Just this month, a 14-year-old Massachusetts girl died of a spleen injury that caused massive internal bleeding after she landed incorrectly from a toss that sent her spinning through the air. Called a "double down" — a double rotation during descent — the stunt is "pretty common," says Nikki Siemon, a Medford-based technical and safety judge with the Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Association. State rules limit cheerleaders to just two spins while aloft. "Most teams around here have at least one girl who can do a double down," Siemon says. "They have definitely stepped it up in the last five years I’ve been judging." She credits the growth in athleticism to all-star cheer programs at gymnastic gyms and camps that start girls cheerleading before high school, coaches with experience and enthusiasm for new stunts, and increased competition among schools — whether to win at judged events or to wow crowds at games. "It’s really boring to do the same thing each year," says Joey Kaufmann, a 2000 Crater High School grad who cheered in school and returned this year as a coach. She scouts televised cheer competitions and tapes from college games for new moves, then makes sure they meet Oregon’s strict safety rules, adopted from national high school sports regulations. Kaufmann and co-coach Toni Drew, like their colleagues around the Rogue Valley, say they put safety first, making sure the 23 girls on Crater’s varsity and junior varsity squads are in top physical shape and have the basics down before progressing to more difficult moves. Kaufmann says today’s cheerleaders are stronger, more flexible and in better condition than she and her teammates were just five years ago. For Drew, who cheered 30 years ago, the difference is even more dramatic. "We had nowhere near the athleticism," she says. "You can’t say cheerleading is just an activity anymore. It is really physical and very taxing." Most Rogue Valley squads have either practice or a game five days a week during most of the school year. After tryouts in spring, cheerleaders condition and attend camps to learn new moves through the summer, then perform through fall and winter sport seasons. "This is one of the hardest things I’ve done," says Phoenix High School senior Tyler Boyce, 17, the only guy on his school’s squad and one of just a few male cheerleaders in Jackson County. A martial arts competitor, he was attracted to cheerleading because the tumbling looked "cool" and he thought his tumbling skills could add to the team. "It takes a lot of discipline," he says. "It’s not just an image. It’s a sport you have to physically put yourself into." While Boyce catapults easily across a practice mat in a series of back-handsprings, teammate Kaylie Sharpe, 16, hesitates before throwing her body into the same move. "I have to get over my fear," she says, asking coach Dean-A Croy to spot for her. Croy steps up to offer a steadying hand and some reassurance: "I’m not going to push you to do anything you’re not ready for." Sharpe decides to go for it, and with the coach’s hand at her back, she completes a back-handspring with ease. Croy says this is the first year the Phoenix team has required — and paid for with funds they raised themselves — tumbling classes at South Oregon Gymnastics Academy. The Eagle Point High School cheerleading squad took a year off from doing stunts but will resume them this year with new coach Irene Aviles. Aviles, who cheered for the Eagles for three years before graduating in 2003, says safety is her top priority, even as Southern Oregon schools strive to catch up to cheerleading powerhouses in the Portland area. "Some teams push to be the best, but the coach also has to think about the girls’ safety," she says. The 15-member team is divided into three "stunt pods," each consisting of a "flier," who is lifted or tossed above the others’ heads; two "bases," who do the bulk of the lifting and catching; a "back," who provides a steadying hand and catches the flier’s head and shoulders as she comes down; and a "front," who prevents forward falls. Not all teams use fronts, but Aviles demands the extra safety measure. It’s a spot Schenk is glad to fill. Her older sister spilled forward off another cheerleader’s shoulders several years ago, landing face first, biting through her lip and loosening several front teeth. "She could have broken her neck," Schenk says. Last week was the team’s first attempt at aerial stunts, including a basket toss in which teammates throw a girl above their heads, then catch her in their arms; another lift-and-catch move known as a full cradle; and balancing stunts in which the flier stands in the hands of her bases. "It’s really stressful, knowing you have someone’s life in your hands," says freshman base Stephanie Daniel, 14. She already knows the sick feeling teammates get when a flier hits the floor, even when it’s just a rump-thumping bounce that won’t cause damage other than a bruise. The squad’s seniors can reel off a litany of "just everyday" injuries: bruises, black eyes, fat lips and bloody noses, as well as a few more serious injuries from years past — a shattered ankle, a dislocated knee. "With every sport there is the possibility of injuries," says North Medford High School cheerleading coach Hayley Outlaw. "We try to make it as safe as we can, but to get recognized as an athlete you have to push the envelope." That recognition is increasingly important to cheerleaders, who have slipped from their central role as keepers of the school spirit as new student booster groups sprang up to involve more kids in activities. North’s second-place finish in the state cheerleading tournament last year helped boost respect for the sport locally. Eagle Point senior Nykole Thompson says her squad received an icy reception at some games where players and crowds seemed to view them as a distraction. "Everybody has stereotypes about cheerleaders," she says, noting that some of those images aren’t very flattering. "It can be hard to keep a good reputation." In Ashland, the high school hierarchy of cool had deemed cheerleaders strictly second string behind a premier dance team, but new coach Sarah Newman, a Southern Oregon University junior majoring in health and physical education, plans to put her eight years of cheering experience at middle school, high school and college levels to help rejuvenate the program. Almost every program reports struggling for funding and practice space. Most teams raise their own money — as much as $30,000 a year — to pay for travel, camps and training and uniforms. Rogue River even has a volunteer coach for its 10-member squad, although other schools pay their part-time coaches. The Phoenix squad practices at 5:30 a.m. during the school year because other teams have dibs on gyms at more convenient times, Croy says. Crater’s team practices in the cafeteria, while North Medford’s moves off campus to find space. "Cheerleading is a huge commitment," Crater coach Drew says. "I would love to get rid of the idea that it is just cute girls in short skirts. They are athletes who deserve recognition." Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail KICKING IT UP ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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